Garth Crooks was full of praise for full back Pablo Zabaleta following the defender’s impressive performance in West Ham United’s draw with Leicester City on Saturday.​

The Hammers played out a 1-1 draw at the King Power Stadium courtesy of goals from Fabian Balbuena and the Foxes’ Wilfred Ndidi. The result means that both sides remain just below mid-table, with 12th placed Leicester sitting five points ahead of 13th placed West Ham.

BBC pundit Crooks named Zabaleta in his Team of the Week, with teammates Balbuena and Lukasz Fabianski also featuring, but the right-back received the best of the praise from Crooks, who insists the 33 year-old ‘has still got it’.

“He may be knocking into his mid-30s but Zabaleta has lost none of his enthusiasm nor any of his bite. Just ask Leicester’s Wilfred Ndidi,“, wrote Crooks for BBC Sport.

“The former Argentina international won a perfectly timed 50-50 tackle with the Nigerian midfielder, who was left on the floor.

“Zabaleta was part of an heroic performance by West Ham’s defence, in a team who played much of the game with 10 men.